The FINANCIAL — The three-star, 78-bedroom Bailbrook House hotel in Bath has been bought by country house hotel group Hand Picked Hotels (HPH), for an undisclosed sum off a sale price of £6.95m.
Set in 20 acres of grounds, the Grade II-listed, early 19th century property has been acquired from investor clients of real estate advisory company Delancey and marks the first property to be bought by HPH since 2008. Delancey bought the hotel under the now disbanded Hilwood Hotels & Resorts brand for £9m in 2007.
Chairman and chief executive of HPH, Julia Hands, told Caterer and Hotelkeeper last year that she would like to grow the group to about 20 hotels and was particularly keen to find a hotel along the M4 corridor. The addition of Bailbrook House, following an extensive two-year refurbishment, will bring the total portfolio of HPH up to 18.
Situated one mile from the centre of Bath, the hotel currently has 30 meeting rooms, a restaurant, bar, fitness centre, and beauty and spa facilities.
Hands, a former lawyer who created HPH in 2001 from a collection of hotels purchased with her husband, city financier Guy Hands, said: "We have been searching for some time for the right opportunity to provide Hand Picked Hotels with a strategic presence in the South-west. Bailbrook House hotel has enormous potential and we will be using our extensive experience of working with listed properties to deliver a sensitive refurbishment that will enhance its heritage.
According to Caterer and Hotelkeeper, the sale of Bailbrook House marks Delancey's current disinvestment from the hotel market. Last year it sold the Grand hotel & spa in Jersey and is currently seeking to offload the 64-bedroom Bovey Castle in Devon.
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